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Episode 1 (19th February 1985)
Plot Den Watts, Arthur Fowler and Ali Osman break into the flat of Reg Cox, a resident of Albert Square who has been missing for three days. Reg is found slumped in his chair, unresponsive. Ali assumes that Reg is dead, but Arthur can still feel a pulse. Den rushes over to the doctor's surgery, where Pauline Fowler has just finished her consultation with Dr. Legg. Dr. Legg examines Reg and demands that an ambulance is called to the square. As the ambulance arrives, Lou Beale, Ethel Skinner and Saeed Jeffery - the resident who raised his concerns about Reg going missing - all look on helplessly. Pauline is pregnant; both her and her husband Arthur know that, when Pauline's mother Lou, finds out about her pregnancy, she will not be happy. Lou walks into the launderette and demands all the gossip on Reg from Arthur. When Arthur has finished describing to Lou what he saw, Lou says she cannot believe that Reg's neighbours, Ali and Sue, did not notice anything unordinary. Lou then turns the topic of conversation to Pauline and her doctor's appointment, but Pauline refuses to tell Lou why she was there. In Al's Café, Lou points the finger of blame at Ali and Sue. Sue accuses Lou of being a hypocrite. After leaving the café, Lou visits her son, Pete Beale, and his wife, Kathy, on Bridge Street Market. Pete and Kathy tease Lou about community spirit and how it disappeared when the Conservative party took over government. Kathy goes into the café to get herself and Pete some tea, but Sue snaps at Kathy, accusing Kathy of blaming her for Reg's hospitalisation. At Number 45, Pauline and Arthur eventually decide to tell Lou about Pauline's pregnancy. Lou tells Pauline and Arthur that they need their heads examining; Pauline defends herself, telling Lou that her pregnancy is no one else's business. In contrast, Pauline and Arthur's son and daughter, Mark and Michelle, are indifferent upon hearing the news of Pauline's pregnancy. Dr. Legg speaks to the hospital on the phone and learns that Reg is dead. In The Queen Victoria, Nick Cotton plays darts with Ali. Whilst the pair are playing darts, Nick begins making racist remarks towards Ali, causing him to lose his temper. Nick and Ali begin brawling; Den breaks up the fight and throws the pair of them out of the pub. Cast Regular cast *Lou Beale - Anna Wing *Pauline Fowler - Wendy Richard *Arthur Fowler - Bill Treacher *Michelle Fowler - Susan Tully *Mark Fowler - David Scarboro *Pete Beale - Peter Dean *Kathy Beale - Gillian Taylforth *Ian Beale - Adam Woodyatt *Den Watts - Leslie Grantham *Angie Watts - Anita Dobson *Sharon Watts - Letitia Dean *Ethel Skinner - Gretchen Franklin *Dr Legg - Leonard Fenton *Nick Cotton - John Altman *Sue Osman - Sandy Ratcliff *Ali Osman - Nejdet Salih *Saeed Jeffery - Andrew Johnson (Credited as "Saeed Jeffrey") *Naima Jeffery - Shreela Ghosh (Credited as "Naima Jeffrey") *Hassan Osman - Michael Evangelou (Uncredited) Guest cast *Reg Cox - Johnnie Clayton (Uncredited) Locations *Albert Square *The Queen Victoria - Public *Walford Surgery - Consultation room *23B Albert Square *45 Albert Square - Kitchen, backroom and backyard *Bridge Street *Bridge Street Market *Foodstore *Laundrette *Al's Café Notes Production *Julia Smith began her stint as the programme's first producer, relinquishing the role with Episode 417 on 2nd February 1989. *The serial's first title sequence is a black-and-white aerial shot with a blue river of the Thames in the East End of London. The sequence was used until Episode 863 on 11th May 1993. *For the first few scripts, the working title for the programme was East 8 rather than the later calling of EastEnders. *For the first nineteen scripts, every episode was given a unique title, with the exception of Episode 13, instead of just the episode number, which was ordered by show co-creator Tony Holland. Therefore, this episode was titled "Murder in Albert Square" rather than Episode 1. *In an error with the production code, Episode 1 was given the overall code of LDL G100K, when it should have been LDL G001D. *After the first episode was broadcast, the BBC received some telephone calls complaining that the new soap contained too much bad language and was violent. A BBC spokeswoman said, "There have been some complaints about the violence and the language. There was a fight at the end, but there was no blood or guts. I only counted one 'bloody' in the whole episode." *The morning after the first episode had broadcast members of the cast appeared on Breakfast Time. The breakfast television programme the night before had taken a camera to a real East End pub to ask viewers their opinions after the first episode had broadcast. The reviews were mixed with quotes such as "The East-end's not like that!, I won't be giving up Coronation Street" and "Not bad. I'll be switching on to episode two." *''Radio Times'' synopsis: "Poor old Reg..." Transmission *This episode was originally shown on BBC1 on 19th February 1985 and as part of an omnibus edition on 24th February 1985. *Official ratings from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board showed that the episode was watched by 17.35 million people, including those who watched the Sunday omnibus, achieving third place in the British Top 100 programmes for that week. Excluding the omnibus, it was watched by 13 million people. *Viewing Figures: UK broadcast - 17,350,000 viewers (4th place - combined figure including repeat). Repeats *Episode 1 has since been repeated for the show's 10th anniversary, on 20th February 1995, 15th anniversary on 17th February 2000, on BBC Three, and 30th anniversary, on 16th February 2015, on the BBC Red Button. Releases This episode was included on the following commercial releases: *''EastEnders: Iconic Exits'' released by the BBC Store and later Amazon Prime in May 2016. Noteworthy dialogue Den Watts: "Cor, stinks in 'ere, dunnit?" (First line spoken in EastEnders) --- Nick Cotton: "Barred? Stuff your poxy boozer!" (Last like spoken in the episode after publican Den Watts throws him out of his boozer, and the first ever line of dialogue before the notorious duff duff) Category:1985 episodes